All her cat friends will laugh at her.

But it is practical, I guess.

I tried that with my cat. It did not go well.

My cat has always gone through periods of bolting for the door whenever it's opened, so we figured we'd give it a shot. We tried using a harness. I can't remember what led us to believe that that was better than just slapping a leash on her collar, but there was some reasoning behind it.

So first there were a few wrestling matches getting that on. We'd also heard or read that you want to give kitty some time to adjust to the harness. Like a week or more. She definitely didn't seem to be getting used to it, so after a few days we decided to give it a go and take her outside. It's possible that we jumped the gun there.

So after all that, once we got her outside she basically just froze. We tried putting her in spots we thought she'd find more compelling, near bushes and such, but outside of a few sniffs here and there, she really did not seem to be enjoying the outdoors at all. So that was the end of that.

We just visited with my husband's grandmother who takes her cat for walks on a leash. I was skeptical, but he really seems to like it.

I have trained several cats to walk o a leash. (I'm a good cat trainer, it seems).

You'll need to find a harness that agrees with the cat first. Some cats are fine with the stupid heavy man made material variety, they are usually the bigger kitties with muscle or fat. Others get annoyed at the weight and un-supple-ness these types of harnesses cause. For them you need something made out of faux suede (I forget what that supersoft material is called in english but it weighs nothing and has worked on so many of my cats). I know they are more expensive but I've had mine for 17 years now and three cats have used it.

Start with a necklace, uh, collar. They'll hate that but a week later, let them try the harness. Make it clear that the harness is only for walking outside and thus a temporary contstraint. If the cat starts making all weird moves with his her backlegs s/he's either complaining that the harness is too heavy/tight or just being whiny. Wait it out for at least ten minutes. Take the harness off, replace with collar and give cat treat (ham or shrimp). Talk about the leash that goes on harness and that you can take them outside with it.

They'll get it.

Next time you'll put it on they'll be more co-operative (you only need to wait a day really). Walk around the apartment with it. Give treat after removing. Repeat.

Now, wait another day, do leash and go outside. Cat might be freaked out but it's not about the leash anymore, it's about being outside. Take walks as far as the cat will go with leash. Repeat.

So, One of my cats would walk around a lot with me, we even went into the city and the parks, another cat would go up and down the block. A third would simply tolerate the leash but not "walk with me", which is also fine. He did the "I'll ignore you and you pretend not to know me while I be all cat-like checking out the birds out here" -thing.

I can not stress this enough though, never ever ever ever loose the leash when the cat is on it. They run across the street and a car comes, presto, instant broken neck when the cat forgets they are dragging a leash behind them. Very sad.

Mine like it. I use harnesses (not collars) and attach their nice long leads to a water-filled plastic jug - light enough to move easily but heavy enough so they don't drag it away. I'll have them out with me when I'm doing miscellaneous yardening, so I can keep an eye out if they've tangled themselves. I've also seen some hawks in the neighbourhood and I wouldn't want them sizing up my (8 lb.) little old lady cat as a tasty treat. My younger guy sometimes gets spooked by a loud truck going by and pulls himself out of the harness (fortunately he heads straight back into the house.

The Bees is remarkably good about putting things on, but i've found she's much happier (as most cats) just walking next to me. She's been startled on a leash, in which case you have for a moment a kite or a flying cat. i need a longer leash, but the longer the leash, the easier to get caught around things.
interrobang also has some cat leashing experience.
Collars choke or are too easily escapable, but harnesses can be "heavy", man.
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"sämsskinn" is the "faux suede" I'm talking about. It's elk leather that they've removed practically everything from, which makes it super soft and water absorbant and you can buy it buy the sheets around here to polish stuff with, from old silver to cars. Can also be made of goat leather, I have no idea what it's called in english but trust me it's worth the extra coinage.

And yes, harness because collars choke, always make sure that the leash connects to the back of the harness not the collar-part.

We started Oliver and Abigail on harnesses as kittens. They love it. They don't get to go out often and get really excited when they see me pull out their harnesses.

Oliver is the really adventurous type and would be out for hours if I let him. Abigail is more tentative and stays close to home. She wants back inside within an hour or so.

When gardening I'll attach them to one of those screw in tie-out thingies that are usually used for dogs. If you do this make sure Sadie has some shade to relax in and a bowl of water.

Forgot to say:

Harnesses are better than collars because a collar can slip over a cat's head quite easily. Also, when you try this for the first time, do it in a contained area such as a backyard. It'll be much easier to track down an escapee.

Wow, very thorough tips everone, thanks! I'll search for the comfy harness dabitch is suggesting and try to acclimate Sadie to it soon. I love the idea of anchoring her to something so I can work outside while she is outside too. Thanks!

Make a kitty run or "cat enclosure"?

dabitch, I think that's chamois in English.

yes, that totally sounds like the stuff. Very soft and supple, won't annoy sensitive kitties bellies. I've tried velvet too, some kitties are OK with that.

Her main interest outside seems to be finding stuff to eat that she can yak up later.

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BP ftw! I swear Oliver and Abigail think they're cows while they're outside.

I think encapsulating Sadie in a rolling plastic bubble is the sanest solution.

There can be interactive ports built into the sides for access to yak-producing material.

yes i know i'm not helping